The past century has seen a massive increase in the temperature of the earth. The burning of fossil fuels and other human and natural activities has released enormous amounts of heat- trapping gases into the atmosphere. 80 percent of this heat is absorbed by the oceans which lead to a rise in the sea levels. Even a small increase in sea level can have a devastating effect on the coastal habitats.
A recent article in The Hindu stated how thousands were left homeless in Mousuni, a sinking island in the Sunderbans due to rise in the sea level. Mousuni is not the first island to witness such a fate. In December 2006, the obliteration of Lohachara island, in India’s part of the Sundarbans, where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marked the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists had started coming true.
A joint report (Indian Sunderbans Delta: A Vision) published by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and School of Oceanographic Studies in 2012 had stated that over a million people in the Sunderbans will be affected by the year 2050 due to climate change.
Our rishis thousands of years back described the Mahapralay, the final deluge, which would see the oceans rise and engulf land and all life. The above stated facts are indications of the same…Creation which started with Satyug, where men upheld dharma and took responsibility of all creatures in their vicinity putting interest of creation before their own, approaches its end as the same men destroy nature and its resources to fulfill their own selfish interests in the final phase of Kaliyug. Animals are killed, trees are cut, and atmosphere is impregnated with plethora of chemicals, as is soil and water, to cater to the greed of few.
The rising of the sea levels is directly a result of man’s intervention in nature’s course of things. Let us do our bit to reverse the tide of time and avert the danger that lurks…
Ways to reduce Global Warming
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
- Grow trees, not cut forests
- Use less of heaters and air conditioning, sprays and deodorants
- Save electricity and fuel, insist upon energy-efficient products and practices
